Sunday, July 24, 2011

Slow Saturday Special: Kashmir Rape Case

With any other case the blame-the-victim tone would be decried; however,  when it comes to Muslim women....

"Kashmiris protest alleged rape by soldiers" July 23, 2011|Associated Press

SRINAGAR, India - Thousands of people hurling rocks and shouting anti-India slogans protested in a remote village in Indian-controlled Kashmir yesterday after a woman told police she was abducted and raped by army soldiers stationed in the disputed region.

The protests broke the delicate peace that had settled this summer over Kashmir and kindled concerns of a return to the deadly street violence that consumed the region the previous three years.

Yeah, the RAPE DID NOT!

The protesters demanded the arrest of the two soldiers. The Indian army and police insisted justice would be done.

“A special investigation team has been formed,’’ said Shiv Murari Sahai, a top officer in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir. Police also said results of a medical exam of the woman were pending.

The Indian army chief in Kashmir, Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain, said the military also is investigating, but he suggested armed Kashmiri rebels may have staged the attack to incite public anger against the army.  

I'm sorry, but THAT JUST AIN'T FLYING! Oh, I know, there are a lot of false rape charges out there, but....

Terrorists also use combat uniforms that could resemble the army’s, Hasnain told reporters in Srinagar, the main city in Indian-controlled Kashmir. “We’ve conducted certain operations a fortnight ago in the same area, and the terrorists are under pressure. Therefore, this was something which was not unexpected.’’ 

I do hear someone hollering rape, readers. --more--"

Related: India Creates Concentration Camp in Kashmir

Probably why we don't read about it much. 

Didn't the world do away with that s*** over 60 years ago (about the same time Israel started loading Palestinians into "refugee camps")? 

"Protests shut down shops, businesses" Associated Press / July 24, 2011

SRINAGAR - Shops and businesses shut down yesterday in Indian-controlled Kashmir to protest an alleged abduction and rape that triggered two days of violent anti-India demonstrations. The protests kindled concerns of a return to the deadly street violence that has consumed the disputed Himalayan region in recent years. Police have barred public gatherings in Manzgam village, where thousands marched Friday and threw stones at law enforcement officers, who responded by swinging batons and firing tear gas, police said. At least five civilians and four officers were injured."  

Honestly, I am objecting to the slant that somehow the protesters ignited this situation.  

Yeah, just sit back and enjoy the metaphorical if not literal rape.
 
FLASHBACK:  

Not that this is one you would want to have, but....  

"It is now the focal point for seemingly bottomless Kashmiri rage at the continuing presence of the roughly 500,000-strong Indian security force here.... a full-scale occupation..... They remain even though violence.... has fallen to its lowest point in two decades....  rapes by soldiers, extrajudicial killings, and a lack of redress are endemic, not least because security forces are largely shielded from prosecution by laws put in place when Indian troops were battling a once-potent insurgency here."

"2 brutalized bodies, 1 coverup, limitless rage; Murders stoke Kashmiri anger at Indian forces" by Lydia Polgreen, New York Times | August 16, 2009

A sister of murder victim Nilofa Jan tended to Jan’s 2-year-old son, Suzain, in Kashmir, India.
A sister of murder victim Nilofa Jan tended to Jan’s 2-year-old son, Suzain, in Kashmir, India. (Candace Feit/ The New York Times)

SHOPIAN, India - On a sunny late spring afternoon, Asiya and Nilofa Jan left home to tend to their family’s apple orchard. They passed police camps wreathed in razor wire as they crossed the bridge over the ankle-deep Rambi River.

Little more than 12 hours later their battered bodies were found in the stream. Asiya, a 17-year-old high school student, had been badly beaten. Blood streamed from her nose and from a sharp gash in her forehead. She and her 22-year-old sister-in-law, Nilofa, had been gang raped before their deaths. The crimes and allegations of a bungled attempt by the local police to cover them up set off months of sporadic street protests.  

Gee, this is TRULY the FIRST I'M HEARING OF IT in the Boston Globe -- and the LAST!!!

It is now the focal point for seemingly bottomless Kashmiri rage at the continuing presence of the roughly 500,000-strong Indian security force here. They remain even though violence by their target - separatist militants allegedly supported by Pakistan - has fallen to its lowest point in two decades.

“India says Kashmir is a free part of a free country,’’ said Majid Khan, a 20-year-old unemployed man who has joined the stone-throwing mobs. “If that is so, why are we being brutalized? Why are women gang raped?’’  

I think the answer is to be found in that blue highlight above.  

Or below....

India and Pakistan have fought two wars over Kashmir, and the Himalayan border region remains at the heart of the 62-year rivalry between the nuclear-armed neighbors. With a very different approach to each.  

Some might think it is hypocrisy and a double standard, but that's not the gist of this post.

Settling the Kashmir dispute is the key to unlocking the region’s tensions, something the United States hopes will eliminate Pakistan’s shadowy support for militant groups and allow its army to shift attention toward fighting Taliban militants.  

You of course SEE WHO is in the FRAME JOB, right, world?

USRAELI and INDIAN COVERT ACTIONS must be HIDDEN to the AMURKN NEWSPAPER READER!

Despite Kashmiri rage and the damage to India’s image, the Indian government has bridled at any outside pressure to negotiate a solution, let alone reduce its forces here. Caught in the middle are Kashmir’s 10 million people.  

And THAT is who I CARE ABOUT!!! SELF-DETERMINATION! AUTONOMY!

Whatever THEY WANT!

They want INDIAN TROOPS to LEAVE? 

Then BYE-BYE!!!!!!!

The case of Asiya and Nilofa Jan is only the latest abuse to strike a chord with Kashmiris, who say it is emblematic of the problems of what amounts to a full-scale occupation. Kashmir has its own police force, but it works closely with the Indian forces and is seen by many as virtually indistinguishable from them. Four Kashmiri officers are suspected of covering up the crime.

Kashmiri activists and human rights groups say that rapes by soldiers, extrajudicial killings, and a lack of redress are endemic, not least because security forces are largely shielded from prosecution by laws put in place when Indian troops were battling a once-potent insurgency here.

Last summer, a dispute over land for Hindu pilgrims between Kashmiris, who are mostly Muslims, and the region’s Hindu administrators set off weeks of massive demonstrations.
 

Oh, it is CLEAR! GET OUT of KASHMIR, India!!!!!!!

The question for India today, Kashmiris say, is whether the huge security presence is doing more harm than good.

“Maybe at some point in time, when the militants were in the thousands, it made sense to have so many soldiers here,’’ said Mehbooba Mufti, leader of a major opposition party here. “But at this point they are not helping in any way. Their mere presence has become a source of friction.’’  

Then ABOUT FACE and HARCH!!!!!!!!

Indian government officials disagree and point to statistics showing a decline in infiltration from Pakistan as proof that their tough methods have worked.

According to the government, 557 civilians died in 2005 in what the government calls terrorist violence in Jammu and Kashmir. By 2008 that number had fallen to 91. The number of militants killed has fallen by nearly two thirds, while the deaths of security personnel in the region have been more than halved.

Where tens of thousands of armed men once roamed, government officials now estimate there are as few as 500. Analysts say that other events have also played a role in reducing militancy and infiltration. 

Like CALLING OFF the FALSE-FLAG DOGS for now, 'eh?

After two decades of militant separatism, in December voters ignored separatist calls for a boycott and cast ballots in huge numbers in state Assembly elections. It was a sign that Kashmiris believed they could influence their destiny by peaceful means.  

Despite the JUSTIFIED RAGE, 'eh, j**smedia?

The election brought Omar Abdullah, the scion of Kashmir’s most famous political family, to power as chief minister of the state. He promised to roll back the laws that shielded Indian security forces in Kashmir from oversight and to put Kashmir’s police force, rather than federal police and troops, at the forefront of securing the region.

But that has not happened, and the details of the Shopian killings and the initial coverup have fed the darkest and most personal fears of Kashmiris.

“Who does not see their wife in Nilofa, their daughter in Asiya?’’ said Abdul Rashid Dalal, who lives in Shopian. Other residents say the troops themselves are the only threat.

“The only thing I can do now is hope justice will be done,’’ said Shakeel Ahmad Ahanger, who is struggling to care for his 2-year-old son, Suzain after the slaying of his wife, Nilofa.

Nobody is safe in Kashmir, even a child, an elderly man, a young girl,’’ Ahanger said. “Nobody is safe.’’

--more--"  

Also see: India's Mass Graves

I suppose the Muslim Kashmiris should be happy they didn't land in one of them.